My FIRST 5K Event Is Just A Week Away

About a month and a half ago a girl at my work sent an email about a charity 5K event that she was participating in and opened the invitation to all of us in the office.  Well I was intrigued and I have always wanted to run a 5K but never had enough courage to do it.  So I figured, what better time than now?  At least I won't be running it myself because as of right now there are 7 people from my office participating (by the way there's only like 42 people that work in my office) as well as a couple of other people that I know.

The name of this event is Running for Rachel. Please visit this site HERE for information about this 5K.   Rachel was diagnosed with duodenal cancer shortly after she finished graduate school and she fought a hard battle.  The great thing about this 5K event is that 100%, yes you read that right, 100% of the proceeds are going DIRECTLY to Rachel's surgeons at the National Institutes of Health located in Bethesda, MD.  The money will be used specifically to develop novel drugs for gastrointestinal cancers, including duodenal cancer.  I did not personally know Rachel but I'm so glad to be participating in an event where all of the proceeds are going towards finding better treatments and a cure for this cancer.

I got the email about this 5K on March 7th, but I didn't decide that I was going to participate until two weeks later.  That gave me only one short month to "train" for this run.  I already do a functional fitness class two times a week but cardio is not a main focus so my cardio was lacking.  When I first started running in preparation I was running 13 minute miles.  Yesterday I went on a nice run at one of my favorite places to run (and walk my dog Bella) and I'm now running around a 10.5 minute mile.  I have to say that I'm very impressed with myself for cutting almost 2 minutes off my miles and it's really only been three weeks of running 2-3 times a week.  I have yet to time myself for a full 3.1 miles, but that's because my goal for this first 5K event is NOT about how long it takes me to finish.  My only goal for this event is that I RUN the full 3.1 miles without stopping to walk.  Once I finish the run I will then worry about my time.  But only because I will use that time and try to beat it for the next 5K that I participate in.

I'm not a big runner and I never really was.  I loved playing field hockey in high school but I DREADED all the running drills.  But I really feel like I could come to enjoy running.  Now don't think I'm going to go all out and try to run a marathon!  I'm not sure I could ever do that!  So I'm taking baby steps.  And next Sunday, April 22, 2012, I will be taking my first step by going and running this very first 5K for myself.  I will make sure to post an update after the race! :-)